Have to say these Harlan Ellison's Watching videos are changing my attitude towards him. Since Star Trek's CotEoF episode everytime I saw or read him interviewed or the few times I saw him at a convention he always seamed angry and hostile. So I never went out of my to read his work. These videos (and his Tom Snyder appearances) are the first in decades where I've seem him smile, laugh or even just be even keeled. No bluster. Wish I would have seen this side of him decades ago.
Dear Uncle Harlan, The online trancription of this video, with you armed with your Recife, in hand, hangs on my wall, in my home, in a nice frame, You sum up that statement by John Adams: "It gives men pause, when they pick up the pen." So many, today, don't get that idea. Thank you.
Harlan remains one of our great writers; even more: one of the great Men/Women of Letters in American history, ranking with Mark Twain and Gore Vidal. Yes, he's a 'trouble maker' (in a good way), and a cynic -- but one who has always cared deeply about what's been happening to our socio-political system in our country. Like he often said, he's a combination of Jiminy Cricket and Zorro. And we need that so much. I was fortunate enough to have had a continuous correspondence w...ith him in the 1970's (I sent him some Betamax tapes of films he wanted), and one time actually got a phone call from him that reduced me to a stammering moron I was so humbled talking with him. He showed concern for my family, asked about my children. His disgruntled curmudgeon is only part of who he is. My greatest regret is that I never got to meet him to date, and never got him to autograph a book to me. I do have some typed letters he signed, so I'm lucky there. But I still foster a hope to meet him. And, of course, I wish him total recovery, and even more: We lost Gore Vidal recently; we need to do something to get Harlan Ellison to live forever!
Gee, the words Hal has to say in these clips is as relevant to the very minute we are living in, as they were to the day they were filmed. Sobering, indeed.
I'm an artist - I paint in oils, draw all the time, fill canvases and sketchbooks. I also work digitally, with video, a digital camera, and Photoshop. I work seriously in both mediums, but I have to tell you, the drawings and paintings matter more because they are individual creations and can't be duplicated, burned to disc, or passed out, and still be called originals. As for Jeremy Brett, he was probably the last in a line of authentic Sherlock Holmeses (if that's the plural). Whatever that Cumberbatch fella and whatever the HELL Robert Downe,y Jr. accomplish, they are that curiously inauthentic item, a "reimagined" version of the original.
"You know there's a human being behind it. . ." Amazing how alien this sentiment is today. I say similar things to people around me and they look at me like some UFO cultist. Apple owns everyone's brain. . .
Harlan was a lefty (note the small 'L')... Most of the Most Intelligent People I Have Ever Known (including my son) seem to be. He makes a great case (at least in 1995): Breakthroughs in technology are additional colors on the palette, not some "new palette." His appreciation of Brett as Holmes (has it really been 20+ years since his passing?) was really quite elegant: The Brett/Granada take on Homes played completely fair with Doyle's creation, and managed to play up his quirks in a way never before seen, not even in the quite wonderful Rathbone films.
I discovered fountain pens about 12 years ago... alas the one I had for 10 years just died about a month ago. I have a new one now, but it's not the same. :(
When i hear Harlan ellison speak of the digital age, i begin to sort of grasp why he wrote "I have no mouth and I must scream" he saw where the digital age was heading. And its going to take one idiot to create AM
The world is lost without Harlan's quick wit and cynicism. Miss you sir.
Have to say these Harlan Ellison's Watching videos are changing my attitude towards him. Since Star Trek's CotEoF episode everytime I saw or read him interviewed or the few times I saw him at a convention he always seamed angry and hostile. So I never went out of my to read his work. These videos (and his Tom Snyder appearances) are the first in decades where I've seem him smile, laugh or even just be even keeled. No bluster. Wish I would have seen this side of him decades ago.
As usual Harlan speaks from the heart. I've enjoyed his writing, his wit, and most of all his back-and-fourth with Isaac Asimov,
Dear Uncle Harlan,
The online trancription of this video, with you armed with your Recife, in hand, hangs on my wall, in my home, in a nice frame, You sum up that statement by John Adams: "It gives men pause, when they pick up the pen." So many, today, don't get that idea. Thank you.
Thank you, Unca Harlan, for memorializing Mr. Brett. He still stands above the flotsam and jetsam of Holmesian imitators.
2:20 imagine him ranting about internet discussions in 2021. I would have paid to see that. xD
Harlan remains one of our great writers; even more: one of the great Men/Women of Letters in American history, ranking with Mark Twain and Gore Vidal. Yes, he's a 'trouble maker' (in a good way), and a cynic -- but one who has always cared deeply about what's been happening to our socio-political system in our country. Like he often said, he's a combination of Jiminy Cricket and Zorro. And we need that so much.
I was fortunate enough to have had a continuous correspondence w...ith him in the 1970's (I sent him some Betamax tapes of films he wanted), and one time actually got a phone call from him that reduced me to a stammering moron I was so humbled talking with him. He showed concern for my family, asked about my children. His disgruntled curmudgeon is only part of who he is.
My greatest regret is that I never got to meet him to date, and never got him to autograph a book to me. I do have some typed letters he signed, so I'm lucky there. But I still foster a hope to meet him. And, of course, I wish him total recovery, and even more:
We lost Gore Vidal recently; we need to do something to get Harlan Ellison to live forever!
Gee, the words Hal has to say in these clips is as relevant to the very minute we are living in, as they were to the day they were filmed. Sobering, indeed.
luv u harly
gr8est writer in de woild.
kisssss
Thoroughly enjoyed the video especially the homage to Jeremy Brett who was, in my opinion, the greatest Sherlock Holmes
I love Harlan Ellison's wit, fountain pens, and Jeremy Brett (RIP) as Sherlock Holmes, so this was an especially delightful installment.
I'm an artist - I paint in oils, draw all the time, fill canvases and sketchbooks. I also work digitally, with video, a digital camera, and Photoshop. I work seriously in both mediums, but I have to tell you, the drawings and paintings matter more because they are individual creations and can't be duplicated, burned to disc, or passed out, and still be called originals. As for Jeremy Brett, he was probably the last in a line of authentic Sherlock Holmeses (if that's the plural). Whatever that Cumberbatch fella and whatever the HELL Robert Downe,y Jr. accomplish, they are that curiously inauthentic item, a "reimagined" version of the original.
I miss my cranky sci-fi uncle every day.
Nearly always manic,...and fascinating.
Brilliant mind & imagination...never one to "suffer fools gladly...or kindly."❗🤔
"You know there's a human being behind it. . ."
Amazing how alien this sentiment is today. I say similar things to people around me and they look at me like some UFO cultist. Apple owns everyone's brain. . .
The pen is mightier than the sword!
Harlan was a lefty (note the small 'L')...
Most of the Most Intelligent People I Have Ever Known (including my son) seem to be.
He makes a great case (at least in 1995):
Breakthroughs in technology are additional colors on the palette, not some "new palette."
His appreciation of Brett as Holmes (has it really been 20+ years since his passing?) was really quite elegant:
The Brett/Granada take on Homes played completely fair with Doyle's creation, and managed to play up his quirks in a way never before seen, not even in the quite wonderful Rathbone films.
I discovered fountain pens about 12 years ago... alas the one I had for 10 years just died about a month ago. I have a new one now, but it's not the same. :(
I love all kinds of pens and markers. :D I have found some really cool looking ones.
Awesome clips from Sherlock Holmes.
When i hear Harlan ellison speak of the digital age, i begin to sort of grasp why he wrote "I have no mouth and I must scream" he saw where the digital age was heading. And its going to take one idiot to create AM
Harlan was a leftie? I'm a leftie & an Ellison fan for over 40 years!
I have three fountain pens.
this show was done in 1995?
No, I can't believe it; HE is a self-admitted Internet troll...
Save a peacocks's ass -- use fountain pens!